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HHS agencies report research advances, funding plans and workforce initiatives
Summary
NIH highlighted observational vaccine‑dementia signals, prize challenges (EUREKA) and summits; CDC reported $41.5M FY26 for BOLD Infrastructure and expanded surveillance modules; ACL and SSA previewed caregiver funding, respite programs and compassionate allowance updates for early‑onset Alzheimer’s.
During the session, multiple federal agencies provided program and funding updates to the NAPA Advisory Council.
Dr. Richard Hodes and Dr. Amy Bany Adams (NIH) summarized epidemiological signals — including a cohort analysis from Wales suggesting a roughly 20% lower dementia rate among a cohort immunized for shingles — and NIH prize mechanisms (EUREKA) that awarded up to $100,000 per team for novel early prediction approaches. They also described summits that inform research priorities.
Capt. Fleetwood Loustalot (CDC) said FY26 funding for the BOLD Infrastructure and Healthy Brain Initiative is $41.5 million, supporting 43 state, tribal and local health departments and three centers of excellence; surveillance modules for cognitive decline and caregiver trends are in use across dozens of states.
Erin Long (Administration for Community Living) described ACL grant programs for state, community and tribal entities, upcoming dementia‑specific respite grants, webinars on caregiver emotional needs and the Caregiver AI Prize Challenge announced by the HHS secretary. Michael Goldstein (Social Security Administration) reported updates to compassionate allowance guidance for Early Onset Alzheimer’s to streamline disability adjudication processes.
Several agencies offered to provide further implementation details to the council (for example, workforce education and the design of care‑planning codes) as members asked how to prepare clinical and provider systems for wider screening and treatment availability.
